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pirates feed the sharks

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War Hero

The Somali pirates who were captured in an assault operation after hijacking a Russian tanker near the Gulf of Aden and then released by Russian military officials have not reached the coast and have apparently perished, a top-ranking source in Russia's Defense Ministry told journalists on Tuesday.

Russia's Moscow University tanker was hijacked last week near the Gulf of Aden. Ten pirates were captured and one was killed in the assault operation, which lasted just 22 minutes. None of the 23 Russian crewmembers on board the tanker were injured during the vessel's release.

The captured pirates were initially to be sent to Moscow for prosecution, but Russian military officials then made the decision to release them, citing the absence of a relevant international legal base to carry out prosecution procedures against pirates and the inability to reveal the nationality of the detained hijackers.

A source in the Russian Defense Ministry earlier told RIA Novosti that the pirates had been disarmed and "sent adrift" in a rubber boat without navigation equipment.

The boat reportedly disappeared from radars an hour after they had been released by the Russian military.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged last week to punish pirates who take vessels hostage off the Somali coast "with the full force of maritime law."

Until a legal system allowing hijackers to be punished is created, "we will have to act as our forefathers did when they met pirates," he said, without specifying how exactly the pirates should be punished.

Russia has repeatedly called for the creation of a special juridical body to try hijackers captured during anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast. In late April, the UN Security Council adopted Russia's proposal to consider the creation of a new court for this purpose.

Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, has said that sometimes "people suspected of piracy are released just because it is impossible to bring them to justice quickly."

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I wonder if the Russians actually freed them to swim home with an AK tied to each leg?

LE

LE

You know how it happens - pirate boat inadverantly and entirely coincidentally finds itself in exact same location as a 100mm shell from the Marshal Shaposhnikov's main armament as it conducted a test of its guns. Boat mistaken for float target against which a Sunburn SSM was being fired (an expensive but satisfying anti-Pirate measure...) because it sadly strayed into the live-fire area. That sort of thing.

Or they simply lined them up, shot them, dumped them overboard and told the world that they'd let them go, and that some unfortunate mishap must've occurred when it transpired that the pirates never quite made it back.

MIA

Or they simply lined them up, shot them, dumped them overboard and told the world that they'd let them go, and that some unfortunate mishap must've occurred when it transpired that the pirates never quite made it back.

LE

Have zero sympathy for the pirates... far as I'm concerned, we should deal with them in the same effective manner such things have always been handled in the past. Capture and execute the one's found at sea and erradicate their base of operations. While their small boats can be sent out from almost any part of the coast, the focal point of Somali piracy is the port town of Eyl. It's literally the only place they can keep the ships they capture as any other port is within rival clan territory. A naval blockade should of been established there at the very least.

Old-Salt

Have zero sympathy for the pirates... far as I'm concerned, we should deal with them in the same effective manner such things have always been handled in the past. Capture and execute the one's found at sea and erradicate their base of operations. While their small boats can be sent out from almost any part of the coast, the focal point of Somali piracy is the port town of Eyl. It's literally the only place they can keep the ships they capture as any other port is within rival clan territory. A naval blockade should of been established there at the very least.

Sorry about not clarifying... was thinking it could be a joint operation with our navy getting involved as well as the rest of the nations with an interest in keeping shipping safe in the region. We have an MEU in the region and I'm sure they would be happy to make some room on their assault ship for some of your marines...

Sorry about not clarifying... was thinking it could be a joint operation with our navy getting involved as well as the rest of the nations with an interest in keeping shipping safe in the region. We have an MEU in the region and I'm sure they would be happy to make some room on their assault ship for some of your marines...

Thats more plausible but i don't think it will stop the problem, the pirates could easily re-locate or already have other bases of operations unknown to the rest of us? they should be dealt with like the older days of maritime warfare but its against their Human rights so its going to be a persistant problem for years to come.

LE

Thats more plausible but i don't think it will stop the problem, the pirates could easily re-locate or already have other bases of operations unknown to the rest of us? they should be dealt with like the older days of maritime warfare but its against their Human rights so its going to be a persistant problem for years to come.

It's actually a far more simple solution than you think. The reason Eyl is used as a base of operations is that the piracy is controlled by one clan and they are not on good terms with their neighbors to say the least. There literally is no other safe harbor for the pirates...

LE

MIA

LE

300 miles offshore. No navigation equipment. They are probably holidaying in India or even Australia now or still floating somewhere. I doubt the Russians shot them because bodies have a tendency to turn up and if they have holes in them other than shark bites, it could be a problem for future hijacked ships that have Russian crews. Anyway, good riddance to them wherever they are.